As the wild ride of 2020 comes to a close, I’m hearing a lot of talk about what the economy might look like next year. I don’t have a crystal ball, but the Fed appears willing to keep the rates down in the less-than-1-percent range and let inflation run wild for a bit north of …
One of our project managers is also an excellent drone pilot and recently used our place to test drive new software. We ended up with some cool images. This one caught my eye, because you can really see the “figure eight” of our entry. It was designed this way for some specific reasons. For starters, …
About 25 or 30 years ago, there were two national construction companies that were positioned for continued success. Over time, leadership either passed away or retired, and those two companies are no longer in business. Seeing them break up was jaw dropping. Both had outstanding individuals doing their thing, but when leadership changed and got …
There are two ways to look at networking functions: A box to check, or an opportunity. Since you are there anyway, the “opportunity” option seems to make more sense. I’m always sharing the importance of leaving a business conference, a cocktail party, or a luncheon with new acquaintances. You might make a business contact or …
Yesterday, I received a call from a customer concerning our performance on a project. It was not the kind of communication I relish receiving, but I needed to hear it. We pride ourselves on doing a better than average job for our customers, but sometimes we fall short. This particular job was not up to …
“History will remember Paul Volcker and Jerome Powell as standing on the opposite ends of the inflation canyon, with the former taking desperate actions to try to tamp it down and the latter…to announce an unprecedented effort to crank it back up.” (source) When I read the statement of Chairman Powell’s presentation this week, it …
This picture of trench warfare in WWI might be 100 years old, but it sums up the way many have felt the last few months, including me at times. When we stick our heads up, we are not sure what’s around the corner or right over the hill. Having said this, it’s important to remember …
There are times when we are trying to have that “break through idea or solution” and all we get are jagged thoughts that nag the problem. Having said this, have you ever noticed that our brains pull through at the most uncanny times? It seems we all have this specific category of time that’s unique …
In Western culture, leadership can get a lot of accolades. Leaders are thought of as visionaries who make decisions and inspire action. But someone has to make that vision a reality. That’s where the interdependent role of “followership” comes into play. To me, the skills of a follower complement a leader and vice versa. A few things that seem …
For us, getting involved in an FMI peer review group has been one of the smartest ways to grow our business. We meet periodically with other construction companies in non-competing markets to discuss best practices. I kept hearing others talk about using employee selection assessments in the hiring process, and we made the call to …
We’re working on four decades of being in business. The company has had ups and downs through changing cycles. We’ve been through periods of great growth, low times, the financial crisis and now the virus and other impacts. There have been many shifting landscapes over time, and still, the current climate is another new chapter. …
When we designed our place, I originally wanted to have desks in the open. When this did not fly, I suggested offices that had two walls and opened to a common area. That wasn’t popular either. The compromise was building complete offices with a glass wall at the front. We can all see each other, …